Posts for monday morning roundup

They’re back in action tonight as they take on the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Tip off is at 8 PM on TNT, but that might be the best part regarding the schedule of the series. Game 2 is Thursday, while Games 3 and 4 in Philadelphia are at 5 PM and 6 PM respectively. It sucks.

But the play on the hardwood certainly won’t. This is a series that has a ton of history with many of the players and coaches excited to be a part of it.

The Celtics will be a challenge, even without Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving. Terry Rozier has been outstanding as the team’s top point guard since Irving went down earlier this month. They also have Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown as huge contributors.

But defense might be key in this series once again. And it’ll be the Sixers’ d that will be the focal point, especially with Joel Embiid. And similar to the Heat series, there might be some dirty play from guys like Marcus Morris.

I’m excited for this series, and the atmosphere in Boston should be awesome, unlike Miami. A win could place the Sixers officially as an elite team in the league with the young talent they have, granted it’s without two of Boston’s best players. If they lose, it would still be considered a successful season.

Coming off a win over the Spurs, in San Antonio, just a few days ago the team battled the streaking Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday evening on ESPN. They led for a good portion of the contest, except for when it mattered. In the end, the Thunder were too much and extended their win streak to eight games with a 122-112 win.

Philly shot better than OKC from the field, beyond the arc, and was just out-rebounded by one. However, they committed 18 turnovers to the Thunder’s 11.

Joel Embiid led the Sixers with 27 points and battled foul trouble as he had three fouls just midway through the second quarter. However, he did unleash this emphatic dunk:

The Philadelphia Eagles host the Atlanta Falcons this Saturday at 4:35pm on NBC. The Birds are home underdogs, something that hasn’t happened for a one seed in the playoffs since 1970. The Falcons face the Birds because they took down the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday night, 26-13. In the other Wild Card Weekend games, another Andy Reid team collapsed, Jacksonville was not as bad as Buffalo, and the Saints managed not to give it away to the Panthers.

It was an entertaining weekend, here is the schedule for the divisional round:

Despite a really shoddy performance by the defense, the Nick Foles-led Eagles improved to 12-2 with a 34-29 win over the New York Giants. With the win, the Eagles have clinched a first round bye. All they need to get the top seed in the NFC Playoffs is either a Minnesota loss or an Eagles win in the next two weeks. That should happen.

Many people thought the offense would be a huge concern entering the game. But that was not the case. Foles threw for four touchdowns and spread the ball out very well between Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, and Zach Ertz. And even Chance Warmack did a great job filling in for Stefen Wisniewski.

Instead, it was the defense that floundered, giving up 504 yards against Eli Manning and his depleted group of wide receivers. Sterling Shepard had 139 yards receiving and a touchdown on 11 catches. Jalen Mills and Ronald Darby did not have good games, even though Darby’s interception in the first half was huge.

At times, the team lacked discipline too. On fourth down with the Giants punting in the third quarter, Najee Goode went offsides and that gave New York a first down, which resulted in a Tavarres King touchdown. That can’t happen in the playoffs.

If we’re worried about something, it should be the defense, which looked solid earlier in the season. Maybe a return home can revive their old form for a long period of time, which could be until February.

I don’t know what word to use to describe how I feel, how you feel, how we all feel. Yesterday was the truest definition of bitter-sweet. The Eagles got the 43-35 win over the LA Rams and clinched the NFC East, but lost Carson Wentz to what appears to be a torn ACL.

Nick Foles entered the game and led the team to victory along with the defense hunkering down and making some key stops and forcing a fumble to earn the victory. In reality, what happened on the field was tremendous as the Birds are back in the driver’s seat for the top seed in the NFC and are the first team to clinch a playoff berth this year. However, all the eyes are on the status of Carson Wentz.

And everyone went from Cloud 9 to the sky is falling, just like that. Eagles fans changed their tune now after the Eagles lost to the Seahawks 24-10 last night on Sunday Night Football.

Many can point to various items as the reasons for the loss, but simply put, it came down to two big reasons:

Carson Wentz’s fumble at the goal line

Russell Wilson is a freak

The Wentz Wagon had a rock in its spoke last night as I think the sophomore gun slinger had his worst game of his second season in the NFL. He was 29-45, 348 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, and the one lost fumble. He missed an open Nelson Agholor early in the first half, then missed some smaller throws and plays throughout the game.

Wilson had himself a day going 20-31, 227 passing yards and 3 TDs. He also scrambled and did this, which Doug Pederson chose not to challenge:

A successful challenge there really could change things as the Seahawks went down and scored later that drive.

Overall, Wentz looked a bit lost from time to time, but also showed flashes of brilliance. Definitely a humbling loss for the entire team, and probably the fan base as well, but it makes things just a tad more difficult for Philly in terms of the playoff scenario. More on that later.

Zach Ertz left the game early with a head injury and is officially in the concussion protocol.

We’ll have plenty of great day after Eagles coverage with observations and other content breaking down the loss. One thing is for certain, I think it will be quite a while until another visiting team is favored at CenturyLink Field again.

Beyond the Birds, it was a JAM PACKED sports weekend. Let’s get to it. Continue Reading

Another week, another Philadelphia Eagles win. This will never get old.

After a complete beatdown of the Chicago Bears yesterday, 31-3, the Birds are an NFL best 10-1 and atop the NFC East as well as the entire conference. Nick Foles made an appearance. Yes, it was that kind of day.

Carson Wentz had three touchdowns and Zach Ertz had 103 receiving yards (the first Philly receiver to do that this season) and one touchdown.

The one downfall of the day was the Eagles were a bit careless with the football with three fumbles. Hopefully we can chalk that up to the team not being zoned in on account of it being the Bears. That certainly was the case on the sidelines: